{"id":7490,"date":"2016-11-23T22:42:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T22:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=7490"},"modified":"2016-11-26T02:42:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T02:42:53","slug":"the-writer-with-the-master-number-clears-the-deck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/the-writer-with-the-master-number-clears-the-deck\/","title":{"rendered":"The Writer with the Master Number Clears the Deck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two years ago<\/strong>, when I released the 3rd Dako\u00adta Stevens install\u00adment, I read one of those rare books that gave me a much-need\u00aded kick in the ass. Here is the quote from that book that had the great\u00adest impact on me:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many unfin\u00adished projects wait in draw\u00aders, in clos\u00adets, and on hard dri\u00adves. They rep\u00adre\u00adsent the stunt\u00aded growth of their cre\u00adators. The projects wouldn\u2019t nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly have been ground\u00adbreak\u00ading or huge\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful, but their true val\u00adue lies in the lost cre\u00adative poten\u00adtial of their cre\u00adators. Ship\u00adping is the key to mov\u00ading on to the next adven\u00adture.\u201d
\n\u2014 David Ush\u00ader, Let the Ele\u00adphants Run<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"tptt-3d\"<\/a>After I read Ush\u00ader\u2019s inspir\u00ading book<\/a> on cre\u00adativ\u00adi\u00adty, the next day I went through my crates of writ\u00ading and iden\u00adti\u00adfied the books I want\u00aded to fin\u00adish and ship so I could move on in my work.<\/p>\n

I am begin\u00adning this task with the release of the fourth Dako\u00adta Stevens install\u00adment, The Per\u00adfect Triple Threat. <\/em>Ama\u00adzon Kin\u00addle pre\u00adorders<\/a> for the book have already begun; the print ver\u00adsion<\/a> of the nov\u00adel is avail\u00adable now; the Kin\u00addle ebook comes out on Decem\u00adber 23; and the ebook will be avail\u00adable for oth\u00ader plat\u00adforms (Nook, Google Play, etc.) around Christ\u00admas.<\/p>\n

Then, through\u00adout 2017 I plan on fin\u00adish\u00ading and releas\u00ading three books:<\/p>\n

1.  A book of plays.<\/p>\n

2. A book of humor\u00adous auto\u00adbi\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal stories\/essays.<\/p>\n

3. A Paris memoir\/travelogue.<\/p>\n

This is my way of clear\u00ading the deck to make room for the new writ\u00ading I\u2019m doing now, a mem\u00adoir, which I hope to release late in 2017, but more like\u00adly some\u00adtime in 2018.<\/p>\n

The thing about writ\u00ading that most read\u00aders don\u2019t real\u00adize is that there is often a con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adable time gap between when a writer writes a book and when it\u2019s pub\u00adlished. Usu\u00adal\u00adly, a writer\u2019s \u201cnew release\u201d was start\u00aded 3\u20135 years ear\u00adli\u00ader and was fin\u00adished as much as two years before pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion. Dur\u00ading that two years of wait\u00ading for the book to be pub\u00adlished, the writer has often moved on to new char\u00adac\u00adters and new gen\u00adres, and has grown in skill and what s\/he has to say.<\/p>\n

This has been the case with me. The book I\u2019m writ\u00ading now (a mem\u00adoir about my life at age 16) rep\u00adre\u00adsents a quan\u00adtum leap in all aspects of my work: sub\u00adject, craft, depth and mean\u00ading.<\/p>\n

\"10348856_10204580273280370_1973038987793901413_o\"<\/a>Admit\u00adted\u00adly, up to now I have been pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly focused on find\u00ading \u201csuc\u00adcess\u201d as a writer. I\u2019ve want\u00aded as many read\u00aders as possible\u2014hundreds of thousands\u2026no, mil\u00adlions of them. I\u2019ve want\u00aded ado\u00adra\u00adtion from fans and praise from crit\u00adics. I\u2019ve want\u00aded to be accost\u00aded by read\u00aders in air\u00adports and sub\u00adways cars and told how bril\u00adliant I am, how amaz\u00ading my words and sto\u00adries are. In short, I\u2019ve want\u00aded the world to notice me, and I\u2019ve want\u00aded a big pile of mon\u00adey to show for my efforts.<\/p>\n

Of course it would be nice to one day have these things\u2014the vast read\u00ader\u00adship, the crit\u00adi\u00adcal acclaim, the money\u2014but they are no longer what dri\u00adve me.<\/p>\n

This year, I under\u00adwent a spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion, dur\u00ading which I came to under\u00adstand that I was giv\u00aden my gifts as a writer for much more than mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal \u201csuc\u00adcess\u201d; I have been put here to be of greater ser\u00advice to human\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n

Back when I read David Usher\u2019s Let the Ele\u00adphants Run<\/em> and began decid\u00ading which projects I want\u00aded to fin\u00adish and \u201cship\u201d so I could move on cre\u00adative\u00adly, I was guid\u00aded to read about numerol\u00ado\u00adgy. I learned about my rul\u00ading birth num\u00adber (22\/4) and its sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance. Here\u2019s what one arti\u00adcle<\/a> has to say about us 22\/4s:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the mas\u00adter num\u00adber. Peo\u00adple born as 22\/4s have almost lim\u00adit\u00adless poten\u00adtial and often make their mark in life by achiev\u00ading seem\u00ading\u00adly impos\u00adsi\u00adble goals. \u2026 These peo\u00adple are suit\u00aded to work as lead\u00aders in prac\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly any busi\u00adness or cul\u00adtur\u00adal orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion. They excel at what\u00adev\u00ader they attempt, be it in art, writ\u00ading, pol\u00adi\u00adtics\u2026 This is the mas\u00adter num\u00adber whose bear\u00aders have the most respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty to human\u00adi\u00adty. They are self-con\u00adfi\u00addent, high\u00adly intu\u00aditive and sen\u00adsi\u00adtive\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anoth\u00ader arti\u00adcle<\/a> I read empha\u00adsizes this respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty to human\u00adi\u00adty, how we 22\/4s need to achieve and build things greater than our\u00adselves:<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the 22\/4, it\u2019s all about break\u00ading out of your safe\u00adty and secu\u00adri\u00adty zone and mak\u00ading more of an impact in the world around you. Know that this is rather scary and some\u00adwhat for\u00adeign for you because you grav\u00adi\u00adtate toward the tried-and-true and erring on the safe side. Yet know that the Mas\u00adter Num\u00adber 22\/4 is the most pow\u00ader\u00adful num\u00adber in Numerol\u00ado\u00adgy. (Did I just hear you gulp?) Yes. It\u2019s a rather big deal. You\u2019re meant to achieve and build some\u00adthing that makes a dif\u00adfer\u00adence on a grander scale\u2014and that won\u2019t feel com\u00adfort\u00adable.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"a-writer-never-has-a-vacation-for-a-writer-life-consists-of-either-writing-or-thinking-about-writing\"<\/p>\n

This arti\u00adcle goes on to say, \u201cUnder\u00adstand that you prob\u00ada\u00adbly won\u2019t come into your full pow\u00ader as a Mas\u00adter Num\u00adber 22\/4 Life Path until lat\u00ader in life\u2014into your 50s and beyond. It takes a while to get enough expe\u00adri\u00adence under your belt to find your pas\u00adsion\u00adate focus. Be patient and know that you\u2019re here for high\u00ader-lev\u00adel ser\u00advice in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some promi\u00adnent 22\/4s in his\u00adto\u00adry include Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, Woody Allen, Frank Sina\u00adtra, Clint East\u00adwood, Steve McQueen, James Mich\u00aden\u00ader, J.D. Rock\u00ade\u00adfeller, Immanuel Kant, and Mar\u00adgaret Thatch\u00ader.<\/p>\n

Besides each being one of my idols, what do they all have in com\u00admon?<\/p>\n

They\u2019re mav\u00ader\u00adicks.<\/p>\n

And so am I.<\/p>\n

So, why do I bring up all of this numerol\u00ado\u00adgy and 22\/4 stuff? Because over the next year, read\u00aders are going to see a dis\u00adtinct shift in my work\u2014away from safe, tried-and-true genre books (e.g., The Dako\u00adta Stevens Mys\u00adter\u00adies) to writ\u00ading of a grander scale that has more to say.<\/p>\n

Over 25 years ago, as a young writer read\u00ading every\u00adthing he could on the sub\u00adject of writ\u00ading, I read The Writ\u00ading Life<\/em><\/a> by Amer\u00adi\u00adcan essay\u00adist Annie Dil\u00adlard, and came upon a pas\u00adsage that grabbed me by the spine and shook me. As any good writer does when s\/he reads such a pas\u00adsage, I wrote it down in my jour\u00adnal:<\/p>\n

\"anniedillard_thewritinglife\"<\/a>\u201cWrite as if you were dying. At the same time, assume you write for an audi\u00adence con\u00adsist\u00ading sole\u00adly of ter\u00admi\u00adnal patients. That is, after all, the case. What would you begin writ\u00ading if you knew you would die soon? What could you say to a dying per\u00adson that would not enrage by its triv\u00adi\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every day I now remind myself that I\u2019m writ\u00ading \u201cfor an audi\u00adence con\u00adsist\u00ading sole\u00adly of ter\u00admi\u00adnal patients,\u201d and that I, too, am one of those ter\u00admi\u00adnal patients.<\/p>\n

And although I\u2019m mov\u00ading on to write oth\u00ader, more mean\u00ading\u00adful work, by no means am I aban\u00addon\u00ading Dako\u00adta and Svet\u00adlana. I will return to them in time, and when I do, my ulti\u00admate ambi\u00adtion is, in the tra\u00addi\u00adtion of my hero, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to write a series of per\u00adfect gem short sto\u00adries fea\u00adtur\u00ading them. I envi\u00adsion myself work\u00ading on these sto\u00adries over a peri\u00adod of years, so that the result\u00ading col\u00adlec\u00adtion is a mas\u00adter\u00adpiece. It will be my homage to Doyle, Holmes and Wat\u00adson. In the mean\u00adtime, if read\u00aders miss Dako\u00adta and Svet\u00adlana, they can just reread the four books I\u2019ve already writ\u00adten.<\/p>\n

\"c03592e5-55a9-4ec0-a926-677d59816592\"<\/a>Besides Usher\u2019s remark\u00adable book on cre\u00adativ\u00adi\u00adty and works on numerol\u00ado\u00adgy, through\u00adout 2015 and 2016 I read a num\u00adber of Great Books that I hadn\u2019t read in their entire\u00adty before, includ\u00ading the Bible, War and Peace<\/em>, The Ili\u00adad<\/em>, and The Odyssey<\/em>. As a phi\u00adlos\u00ado\u00adphy and reli\u00adgion major in col\u00adlege, I read a lot of the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment and the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment piece\u00admeal, but nev\u00ader the Bible cov\u00ader to cov\u00ader; and I\u2019d read Tolstoy\u2019s Anna Karen\u00adi\u00adna<\/em> half a dozen times, but nev\u00ader dared to crack open War and Peace<\/em>. The point is, these incred\u00adi\u00adble mas\u00adter\u00adworks have inspired me to aim high\u00ader as a writer. I know I was put here to write some\u00adthing great, so it\u2019s time for me to put behind me the work I\u2019ve already writ\u00adten and move on to new adven\u00adtures.<\/p>\n

The jour\u00adney ahead for me and my writ\u00ading is uncer\u00adtain. There will be pit\u00adfalls (and a cou\u00adple of \u201clame\u201d books), I\u2019m sure, but I\u2019m hop\u00ading that those of you who have been my loy\u00adal read\u00aders up to now will stick with me.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know exact\u00adly what form(s) my writ\u00ading is going to take in the com\u00ading years, because instead of focus\u00ading on myself and my own suc\u00adcess, I\u2019m shift\u00ading my focus to writ\u00ading work \u201cthat makes a dif\u00adfer\u00adence on a grander scale,\u201d that some\u00adhow ben\u00ade\u00adfits all of human\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n

With grat\u00adi\u00adtude for all of my read\u00aders,<\/p>\n

Chris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, when I released the 3rd Dako\u00adta Stevens install\u00adment, I read one of those rare books that gave me a much-need\u00aded kick in\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,3,18,19,75,7,76,11,293,13,14,233],"tags":[299,124,94,98,295,300,301,111,134,96,95,296,297,150,294,298,302,221,93],"class_list":["post-7490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chris-orcutt-books","category-craft","category-dramaticwriting","category-fiction","category-memoir","category-personal","category-process","category-dakota-stevens-mysteries-series","category-the-perfect-triple-threat","category-writers","category-writingexperiences","category-writing-life","tag-299","tag-amazon","tag-chris-orcutt","tag-dakota-stevens","tag-drama","tag-master","tag-master-number","tag-memoir-2","tag-mystery","tag-novelist","tag-novels-2","tag-numerology","tag-odyssey","tag-svetlana-krush","tag-the-perfect-triple-threat","tag-war-and-peace","tag-writer","tag-writers-life","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7490"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7519,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions\/7519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}